Give me a Reason
by kettledrums
Summary: Hera is just a simple ninja with not so normal missions, such as stealing and capturing, but she has to do that in order to earn money. However the Kazekage of the Sand Village does not find her work proper and makes her pay her dept.
1. Caught

_'Fuck.'_ I thought to myself, knowing that now I was in deep shit. I have been running for hours now, and they were still after me. I was out of ideas, it was quite impossible to get away. They have even sent dogs after me. I was totally screwed, for the first time during my whole existence. What was going to happen now? Was there actually a chance for me to escape? I knew I shouldn't have underestimated the power of those people. I have known that they were strong and that they were quite different than me, regarding fighting techniques, at least, but I still did that stupid mistake just so I could complete my mission quickly. What a retard I am.

"There she is!" I heard someone yell from my left and suddenly I could see all of them were getting closer and closer.

I tried to jump higher, climbing up the trees in the hopes that they would lose my traces and I could win a good two minutes. Such high hopes for nothing. I felt them getting closer and closer.

' _Fuck this.'_ I mumbled to myself, my brain was off at this specific moment and I decided to act on my senses.

I jumped down on the ground, heading towards the river I had seen when I was up. The flow was strong.

The plan was to simply jump in the water and let it take me away, however I came to an urgent halt when I saw that I was on the edge of a waterfall. A massive waterfall.

"Stop!" I heard the voices.

No way in hell was I going to surrender. I turned my head to see if they have still reached me, already hearing the footsteps. I looked before me, gazing the moving water.

"Well, it's the only choice I've got." I said to myself out loud, inhaling as much air as I could and jumped.

I was sure I was going to have a few bones broken after this, I was just hoping that it wouldn't be my neck or back. The fall was relatively long as I had merged with the water. I managed to look down, relief written all over my face that I would not be falling on rocks but in a small lake.

The collision between the water and my body was impossible to bear as I let out a scream in pain. I was in shock because of the pain, forgetting that I was under water and almost letting myself drown. With all the power I had I managed to swim on top of the water, slowly but surely reaching the nearest rock under the waterfall so they would not see me.

Maybe if they thought I was dead they would leave me alone?

I climbed up, breathing heavily and laid on the rock.

' _I mustn't fall asleep…'_ I told myself. I had to stay awake, or else, they will find me and who knows what would happen to me. If they find me, everything will be over. All I have been fighting for all these years will be gone.

I took a few more deep breaths and got up with a lot of effort. I examined my body and came to the conclusion that my ankle was sprained, but nothing else seemed bad – just a few scratches from branches and the kunai thrown at me, and the fact that I still felt my whole body numb from the fall. It was as if someone had poured impossibly hot water over me and my body was burning, but that was pain I could go through.

I checked my bag to see if everything was there, nodding when I saw the sword was there. I was still wondering why would they pay me so much just to steal some sword from Konoha. Probably because of all the well-trained ninjas. Who knows…

With a slow step, I managed to leave the waterfall, trying to pull myself together and escape these grounds as fast as I could.

I had been walking for an hour now, when I heard noises. I did not stop, but my steps became silent as I was trying to understand where they were without them knowing I had sensed them. Something fell to the ground and I couldn't help myself but turn around – a big branch had fallen right behind me. With a sigh I turned around again and what I saw before me took me off guard.

"Where do you think you're going?" The man spoke calmly, his hands crossed before his chest. He had red hair and teal blue eyes, wearing black robes and I could see something that looked like a bigass peanut on his back. Very random.

"None of your business." I spoke, glaring at him, mentally getting ready for a fight. I couldn't accurately estimate his power and size because of the robe, but he looked slim, which gave me some hope.

"It is my business. You have stolen something important from my allies." He didn't move an inch, but I did take a step back. Judging from his confidence I was pretty sure we were not alone. Was running still an option?

"I am not very fond of what you're speaking of." My sass did not amuse him even one bit.

That is why I took another step back and was about to turn around and yet again run, but something happened. Something awfully strange. I was up in the air, upside down, as if my legs were tied with a rope. I looked up and I saw sand.

"What the fuck!?" I yelled, trying to wiggle out. ' _Breathe.'_ I tried to stay calm, but it was hardly possible.

He walked towards me with timid steps and my body lowered, so we were at eye sights.

"I am sure you know what I am speaking of." He said, extending his hand and I closed my eyes defensively, thinking that he would hit me, but when I opened them again he was holding the sword before me. "This does not belong to you. Why did you take it?"

He was looking at me for a while and all I did was stare back at him.

"What is your name?" No way was I going to answer anything, it was against the laws of my job. "Who do you work for?" He was looking at me for minutes and the only thing that could be heard was breathing. "You refuse to speak?" Wasn't he slow? "Very well then."

The ropes loosened and he caught me, throwing me on his back. My feet and hands were tied with sand but I did try to move, wiggling.

"If you don't stop moving, I will knock you out." Of course, I would not listen to his threatens as I continued trying to get away from him. He stopped suddenly and with one sudden movement I blacked out.


	2. Interrogation

I awoke with a startle, quickly springing my body to a sitting position as I had been laying. That action was not the best decision I had made, my head spinning. Everything around me was blurred and I had to open and close my eyes a few times, the spinning now over. However, instead of that, now I had received a bonus headache. I grabbed my head and closed my eyes.

"Finally you are awake." I heard a voice and I wondered if I should ignore it or comment. Flashbacks of what happened before I blacked out made me open my eyes and see the same red headed guy I saw before. I just stared at him and took notice of the room.

It looked like the Hokage tower as I could see the village from the window. The red headed was standing before me, whilst there was a woman behind a desk, another woman standing next to her and two more guys that looked like they were guarding. I doubted my chances of escaping.

"Now, you will answer some questions." He clearly accented on the obligatory of this statement pulled a chair backwards and sat on it, leaning his chest on the backrest and crossed his hands.

I decided to hold back my comment and simply stared at him, my peripheral vision catching the woman that was behind the desk walking next to him and leaning against the wall.

"What is your name?" He begun and I eyed him questioningly.

"Before asking for my name maybe you should introduce yourself first?" I spoke after a long silence, feeling the irritation from my interrogators throughout the whole room. However, my question definitely kicked a few nerves.

"Ah." The redhead said, taking a deep breath which I supposed was done in order to not beat me. "I am Gaara and this is Lady Tsunade."

"Was it that hard?" I asked smirking. I may currently be in the middle of an interrogation which may put me behind the bars afterwards and I had no idea what to say or do. So instead, I decided to be annoying. "My name is Hera."

"Do you have a surname?" The woman asked me this time.

"Nope." I said, leaning back as I was still sitting on the couch.

"Where are you from?" The guy named Gaara asked me and I honestly did not know how to answer his question.

"Far away." I said and I almost heard a growl from him. I was not sure how far my questions would get me, but I had to try and see.

"Okay, listen." Gaara said and stood up, walking closer to me. "This is not an actual interrogation and we can only help you if you cooperate with us. Both of us want to know why you stole this sword. We accept your personal space and we will not make you talk about uncomfortable topics which do not involve this specific problem. However if you do not share the needed information with us, we will take it out of you by force."

I was actually shocked from his statement. In reality, I thought that they will be playing the good cop and the bad cop. I thought for a minute, at least I had the opportunity to go through the possible future events. If I tell them everything, it will reach the ears of my bosses and they will come here to take me back and I will be punished. However, when I say punish I mean torture and they will not pay me and all these things. If I don't tell them why I have stolen the sword, they might torture me as well. I had no idea what this sword was, to be honest. All I knew was that it is my mission and that I have to give it to a hound, which will deliver it.

My mind mingled through the possibilities and after a few more moments of thinking and just staring at the floor, I rose my head up and looked at them. Both Gaara and Lady Tsunade were staring at me patiently. I honestly saw no menace from either of them and I realized that they did not wish to harm me.

"I can tell you why I stole it, but I cannot tell you for whom I did it." I spoke and the red head nodded, letting me continue. "I was hired to steal it and I honestly have no idea what this sword is. I have no idea in general where I am. I mean I know I am in Konoha, but I have never been here. I, however, cannot tell you the name of the person who hired me and his whereabouts, because I do not know them."

"How were you going to deliver it?" Tsunade asked this time.

"I was going to summon a hound through a scroll which is not mine and have it deliver it. My job is very delicate when it comes to personal information and even I do not have access to it. And there is no way I can do this ritual because the hound has been trained to run away if it sees other people."

They both nodded in unison silently and I waited for their next question.

"Lady Tsunade, may I propose something?" Gaara asked and the woman nodded, showing him that she trusted him.

"From what I have heard, I do not think you have had a choice when you started stealing objects for money. Therefore, I can give you a proposal and you will have some time to think about it." He cleared his throat. "You are going to stay around me all the time. I may have made such a decision, but I do not trust you, so we will have a spell casted by Lady Tsunade, which will be a like a barrier. You have a dept to pay for everything you have broken during your mission." Gaara said and I had a small flashback of the building which I practically destroyed by accident when I stole the sword and the alarm went off. "In exchange of that, I will give you protection. Things will be much easier if in the future you start sharing the information we need."

"The said spell is a rune which will be casted on both of you and you will be able to distance yourself from Gaara for 100 meters and no more. However, if you do try to break the barrier, the distance will get smaller, each time by 10 meters, so think wisely before you try to make something." Tsunade said and I was staring at her as if I was struck by a lightning – I have never heard of something like that. It sounded ridiculous, and I honestly doubted it held the described power.

I did overthink of the whole situation. I got protection, but I had no idea how strong these people were. So far I have only seen what Gaara can do with sand. It was impressive, but was it enough? For my current situation I finally decide to take their proposal.

"I think I will agree." I said slowly, studying their reaction. Gaara's did not change and Tsunade simply turned around and looked at the other woman by the desk.

"Shizune! Go get me the scrolls!" She ordered and the woman sprang on her feet and quickly left the room in search for the needed item. Seconds afterwards she returned and gave it to her. "Get up." Tsunade said to both of us and I listened, getting on my feet. She took our wrists up and lined them next to each other.

The woman put the scroll on our wrists and performed some hand signs before placing her hand on the scroll. Afterwards, she took out a kunai, removed the scrolled and quickly pierced the skin of our wrists in a perfect line, drawing out blood. I bit my lip from the action but decided to be a man and to not wince or back off. Tsunade pressed the kunai against both wounds and moved it down, smudging the blood all over the skin.

I was mildly surprised when I saw a white rune appear on the bloody skin. Both on Gaara's wrist and my own, it was an identical rune.

"Done." She said and took out a napkin, cleaning the blood but as she cleaned it up, the white rune stayed on my wrist like a tattoo. Afterwards she placed her hands over our wrists and they started glowing in a soft green light. I felt my wound heal quickly and soon there was nothing – not even a scar.

"Tsunade, do you need me for anything else or shall we go?" The red head asked and she shook her head and dismissed him. I had a feeling that I had to follow him as he left the room and quickly walked behind him. We walked for a few minutes in silence and reached a small house, which Gaara unlocked.

"I suppose you would want to take a shower, the bathroom is upstairs, you will find towels in the drawer there." He quickly instructed me and I nodded, going up.

This was all so weird for me as he let me roam his home so freely without following me behind. I decided to listen to his advice and take this shower – my clothes were dirty, I had a feeling that I smelled weird and I had lots of wounds and dried blood all over my body from the running and falling down the waterfall.

I found the bathroom and locked myself in it, stripping my clothes and took a quick shower. When I got out I came to the conclusion that I had no clean clothes and I did not want to put on my dirty ones – if I wore them now, the shower would be senseless. I simply wrapped a towel around my body and tied my hair in a high ponytail and slowly got downstairs.

I heard movements coming from the kitchen, so I headed there, seeing Gaara who was trying to cook something.

"If you want I can make dinner?" I offered as the red-head turned around, looking at me strangely. "What?" I stared at him with confusion.

"Your room is upstairs, left door." He mumbled. "I put your things there along with some clothes my sister had left." Oh, now I get it. "And I think I can make dinner, I hope so…"

With a low chuckle I went upstairs, amused by his reaction of seeing me in a towel. Walking was still kind of painful, mostly because of my fall in the lake, but it was much better now. My body had its rest.

I grabbed clean clothes from my bag, feeling uneasy wearing someone else's clothes. After dressing up and trying to dry my hair with the towel, which was quite unsuccessful due to the fact that my hair was long and it was hard to dry it, I got downstairs.

Gaara had put two bowls of ramen on the table – I guess he gave up. I joined him and took a pair of chopsticks. The moment I smelled the food I found out how incredibly hungry I was, downing it in minutes.

"Would you like to tell me more about yourself?" I decided to break the awkward silence between us.

"What do you want to know?" He asked back.

"What do you do for a living?" I continued, looking at him.

"Isn't it kind of unfair that you refuse to share such information with me, but you are asking me anyway?" His look was serious and I decided on not pushing my luck. "I am the Kazekage of the Sand village."

"But why are you living in Konoha?" I smiled, rather glad that he broke the tension after all.

"As I said during our first meeting, they are our alias and I am coming here often." He explained, finishing his food as well.

"Being a Kazekage means you are the strongest of all in your village, correct?"

"Correct." He smiled, but his smile hid something else. That is why I decided to leave the topic behind. It didn't sound as if it was something he wishes to speak about.

"I will probably be a lot of trouble to you." I said. I actually didn't want to say that but it slipped out. However, it was too late.

"Why so?" His curiosity made me answer him more adequately.

"They will probably end up searching for me. My boss and his company." I spoke with a sigh.

"If they do come I will make them go away. You have a dept to repay." Gaara said, getting up and taking the dishes, putting them in the sink. "If you ever feel like sharing more information about yourself, either if it will be in use for your protection or you just want to speak about it, you can come to me."

My whole life I have only had one person to talk with and in the end I couldn't share anything with them because of my job's laws.

"Thank you." I mumbled but I was sure he heard me because I saw him smile, even if it was a small one.

"I think you should be going to bed now, your body needs rest." He said and I nodded, getting up the table and leaving him downstairs, going in the room that was supposed to be mine now.

It was like any other room – a bed, a desk, a TV, clipboards, nightstands and a wardrobe. I rummaged my bag and found an oversized T-shirt which I would usually wear to bed when I have the opportunity to sleep in a hotel. After taking off my clothes and putting it on and for my surprise sleep came to be very fast.


	3. Training

**A/N:** _This is one of the shortest chapters I have ever written, and I am sorry but the next ones will definitely be better. It's actually a semi-filler chapter as soon the real shit is gonna come. Thanks for reading and you know the whole deal - I would gladly read your reviews and critique. I apologize if there are some typos and mistakes, but I did not have much time to proofread it as I have a little secret I'm gonna share with you - I write all of this always with a glass of wine. :D_

"Hera, wake up." A voice startled me, making me jump out of the bed. I got in a fighting stance by default and afterwards I saw Gaara, who was standing before me. He was looking at me with sympathy with one raised eyebrow. I could see humor and amusement in his eyes and quickly realized my embarrassing situation. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." The red head spoke and I simply nodded, unable to say something else because my voice would give out my shame.

"Get ready, after breakfast we are going out." He stated and afterwards left the room.

I did my whole morning routine and after I got dressed and put on my eyeliner I went downstairs.

"Morning." I spoke as I sat on the table, a bowl of cereal before me. Gaara had a cup of coffee before him and I supposed he had woken up early and has already eaten.

"How are you feeling?" He asked me as I shoved a spoonful of milk and cereal in my mouth.

"Surprisingly better." I said after swallowing, coming to the conclusion that Tsunade must have healed most of my wounds. My ankle had to be sprained and I could step normally on it – it still hurt a bit because my whole body was still sour from the fall, but that was pretty much everything.

With that, our conversation was over and I ate in silence. It was kind of uncomfortable as I could see him keeping an eye on me from time to time. I really had no idea what he expected me to do at the moment – hit him with my spoon and run? I guessed he was just cautious, he really did not know much about me.

After I was done, we left for what I supposed was the Kage Tower of Konoha. The path was familiar. Just when we were about to walk in it, someone interrupted us.

"Hey, Gaara!" A blonde boy that was taller than both Gaara and I called his name.

"Hello, Naruto." Gaara nodded and they shook hands. They had a small talk which I did not catch because I was too busy taking in my surroundings. My attention was brought to the conversation when I could see them both looking at me.

"And who is that?" The blonde asked and I really had no idea how to answer? I was a caught thief under his house arrest?

"This is Hera, she is my new apprentice." Gaara answered instead of me and I was glad he did not say the truth.

"Where is her village band?" He asked curiously, getting closer to me and studying me like I was a predator in a cage.

"I am not from around." I decided to answer this time as he may think I'm rude with my silence.

"Oh, well, then! I have to go, I have to train Konohamaru!" The boy named Naruto yelled and quickly waved and disappeared. I was still shocked by his sudden loudness and I realized that Gaara had already walked in the tower.

The young Kazekage walked in a room and sat behind a desk as I made myself comfortable on the couch on the other side of the room. He started doing paperwork, signing documents and reading scrolls and the next couple of hours felt like a punishment for me. I was bored, so bored, that I started roaming the room, walking around and touching everything I could get my hands on. I was sitting in strange places, mostly upside down, but I found my place in the end. I sat on the edge of the window behind his desk and simply observed the outsides of the tower, watching people come and go. At some point I found myself dozing off the sleep for half an hour. I quickly woke up when I heard someone coughing.

"Tomorrow, we will train. I want to test your power." Gaara was facing me. "You should be fully recovered by then."

I looked at him and stretched my legs, feeling that the sourness was almost non-existent. "We can do this later today, I am perfectly fine now."

"If you say so. I have a little bit of work left, so I will be done soon."

"But you do know that I cannot do your ninja stuff, right?" I eyed Gaara suspiciously as he begun reading a file.

"I do, but you might be able to master them. We will have to see your chakra flow. I also want to test your combat skills." The red head explained and after two more hours we finally left the tower. It was getting dark as we headed towards what I supposed was a training ground.

We ended up in the woods, but I was not sure whether we have left Konoha or not. He put down the peanut looking this on his back, leaning it against a tree and stood before me.

"You can start whenever you are ready. I will let you play the offensive." Gaara spoke and I quickly did some stretching as a warm-up, my back and neck snapping duo to the zero activity for the last few days.

"Are you going to use the sand?" I asked, curiously. I had never seen something like that before and actually wanted him to use it at some point.

"Not for now." He was calm, contrasting to my eagerness. So I began.

All of my attacks were being blocked, no matter how sneaky I was trying to be. It was as if he could read my moves. My excitement was now mixed with slight anger – I was fairly good at hand-to-hand combat, even though weapons were my specialty. I decided to try a new strategy.

My fists were before me and I tried to land a hit on his face, but he caught my hand with his own. That is when I tried to elbow him in the stomach, but he caught my other arm as well. This was all part of the plan, I quickly ducked, with my hands still held. His confusion gave me an opening and I spun my leg, tripping him as he fell, but to my surprise he did not fall – he was leaning against the sand. He had instinctively let go of my hands, so I grabbed his arm, pulling him towards me in a try to slam my fist in his stomach, but he was quicker. He spun me around and my back was pressed against his chest, his arm around my neck as his other hand was holding mine behind me.

"You have much to learn, but you have potential." He said, letting to of me. "I think we can call it a night. We will do the chakra test I told you earlier tomorrow."

I nodded, catching my breath – I was sweating and he was as if nothing had happened. I know he is a Kazekage, but how powerful _is_ he?! Next time I was going to show him all of my moves, however I had to do a serious stretching before that. I may have not practiced Taekwondo for a long time, but everything was still in me. I watched him grab his thing and we headed towards the house.

"You carry sand in this thing, right?" I asked him, remembering seeing how sand came out of it during our combat.

"Yes. It's my guard."

"Looks like a peanut." I could not hold back my comment and he glared at him and I supposed he has heard that comment before as well.


	4. The Sand

**A/N:** _Hey, this time it's a longer chapter! Hope you enjoy it!_

The days were passing slowly as Gaara had to do his work in the office and I nonchalantly had to follow him around because of the spell. I still haven't tried to break it, I had to be ready. I had to regain my powers and to refresh my abilities before doing something like that.

After the second day of just staring through the window of his office, I came to the conclusion that I can do warm ups and stretches in the room. He was way too busy to pay attention to me and I simply did splits, high kicks, and push-ups, but I was not sure how effective my training was as I was always doing it by myself, and for some movements I needed a target.

As I was sitting on the ground with a side-split, warming up by stretching my hands and legs, I almost fell on my side as the red head slammed his fist on the desk. I just stared at him as his head slowly fell on the desk as well.

I got up and for a moment I thought he had fainted as he did not move, but saw him staring angrily at a piece of paper.

"Gaara, you okay?" I asked, getting a bit closer to him.

"Yes." He growled and I stood in one place, observing him. "No." He corrected himself. "These documents are all messed up and I have to go to Suna to redo them."

"Why can't you make someone else do it?" I had no idea where Suna was, but I had a feeling this was the town, which he was leading.

"There is no one who can do it but me." The man growled but not at me, still staring at the paper, his head no moving. "Ah, I have a headache."

I felt slight sympathy towards him at this moment so I went behind him and grabbed his head. I could feel his whole body tense at my touch and I chuckled. "Chill, I'm not going to snap your neck." After a few seconds on dwelling he straightened his body and my fingers touched his temples, slowly starting to massage them.

I may not know shit about all these spells and jutsu, but I did know anatomy and body points. Both lethal, and pleasuring. I was massaging his temples and scalp at the same time and I heard him sigh in relief as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the treatment.

"Better?" I asked, lowering my head so I was looking at him through his shoulder.

"I think so." Gaara said and I smiled, retreating back to my previous place. "Do you want to go to the training grounds?"

Usually we went there when it was about to start getting dark and the sun was currently shining brightly – it was around 3 in the afternoon.

"Don't you have work?" I eyed him with a confused look on my face and he shook his head in denial. I supposed he was getting tired by all of this paperwork. "Can you use your sand this time?"

He nodded and I smiled lightly – finally I was going to see what he could do with the sand. "Can I use weapons?"

"Depends." The red head looked at me, suspicion written all over his face.

"You can give me the weapons. I will leave the choice to you." I tried to reassure him, lifting my hands in defense. He simply pursed his lips and got up.

We left the room and Gaara walked into another one, full of weapons. It was like paradise to my eyes! Sheer beauty all around me. From simple kunai to knife, even swords and axes. He grabbed a few objects and shoved them in his small bag.

Afterwards we left the tower and headed to my current favorite place – the training grounds. As my stay here as a prisoner was mostly sitting in Gaara's office or sleeping, training was the only diverse activity I had. When we reached it, I continued warming up, doing a few flips and stretches.

"For someone who has not been trained as a ninja, you are very flexible." Gaara commented, looking at me with a studying face throughout my routine.

"I have no other choice." I answered and got into a fighting stance.

This time I was going to use my long forgotten taekwondo skills, as I was trying my best to remember some movements during the times I used his office as a warm-up place.

"Offensive or defensive?" He asked me and I did not move.

"You are letting me be on the offensive side every time, I think it is your turn now." I said and looked at him. "Use the sand."

"As you wish." Something fell out of his peanut guard and sand started slipping out of it on the ground.

I just stood and studied his actions and he did not move an inch. Suddenly, I heard a weird noise on my left and turned around to see some sand going towards me. It was close but I was fast enough to duck and dodge the attack. More followed on my right and I jumped. When I landed on the ground I rolled close to him, moving aside to dodge yet another attack.

It was fast and I knew the red head was holding back. Gaara was my target as I was slowly trying to reach him and he did not move, not even one bit. I was already breaking a sweat after about ten minutes of jumping around and dodging sand. Under other circumstances I would laugh at the thought of fighting with sand, but now I was dead serious.

I had to find his weak spot in order to run away and I had to see how strong he really was. I decided to run towards him and suddenly I could not feel the ground. He used the same move when he caught me, catching my leg in the air and holding me upside down. Gaara had given me a kunai and this time I had a plan. I took a swing trying to step on top of the sand, my foot sinking in it and I took out the kunai as I was standing on top of it, trying to cut through. As my feet were caught, the sand parted and my legs distanced from each other as I almost did a split in the air. It was definitely weird as I was used to feeling the ground underneath me.

I could feel the sand on my left foot loosening and I kicked it, releasing my limb. Currently my right leg was down and my left one was next to my head, still caught in sand. I used the kunai again, cutting through it and I fell on my feet with a light thud. I got into a fighting stance and I could see the sand around me disappear.

"That was good." Gaara said and I was looking at him angrily. It was unfair, I was all sweaty, looking like a mess and all he did was just stand there.

"I have come to the conclusion that your sand does not make it fair." I commented, still looking at him as the sand retreated itself back to Gaara's guard. He let out a low chuckle and disappeared, reappearing behind me.

Finally, some one on one action. I swung around with a kick, aiming for his face but he caught it – that was my plan. As my foot was in his palm, I used his hand for support and jumped up and in a second I was sitting on his shoulder, pushing him to the ground. I caught his other arm during the process, and I was currently laying on his back with his hand locked behind him.

I smiled in victory, my grip stronger around his hand as I pushed it back to its limit and suddenly I was surrounded by dust. When my vision cleared I was sitting on the ground, holding nothing and heard a chuckle behind my back.

"Hera, I do not understand your purpose." He said and I simply attacked him with my fist going towards his stomach, but he caught it as well. His legs were slightly parted and I took my chances. I was still kneeling on the ground and swirled around with my leg straightened in order to trip him. However, he simply jumped and I rolled on his other side when he landed, getting behind him. I rested my elbow on his back and shoulder to prevent him from turning around and aimed a fist towards his rib. Nope.

His hand caught my fist and he turned around, breaking my resistance. I just stared at him as he was looking at me. I could not really read his facial expression and I decided to confuse him, as I kept on staring at those aquamarine eyes. He had let go of me and we did not break eye contact.

Suddenly, I looked at the nothing behind him and saw him turn his head around and then what did I do?

I ran. In the opposite direction.

I could see the sand quickly starting to follow me as I continued running towards the forest. Did I have a chance of outrunning his sand? No. But I wanted to see the capacity of the spell that was casted on us. At what I supposed was the 100th meter, I slammed into nothing and fell hard on the ground. Some force pulled me back even further, dragging my body on the dirt.

My head hurt really bad and I felt sand enveloping me and lifting my body carrying me in the direction, from which I was trying to run away.

"Now, why would you do that?" The red headed appeared before me and I pursed my lips, just staring at him. "Now the distance is 90 meters."

I crossed my hands before my chest and continued looking at him. "I had to try, you cannot blame me."

He just nodded and shrugged and I was lifted up in the air by the sand again, as he started walking back to the village.

"I can walk by myself, you know?" I said, trying to get out of the sand but it was inefficient as it was all over my body.

He said nothing and continued walking as I continued my struggles. As he walked and I _levitated_ down the street, people were giving us weird looks.

I was not known in this village and therefore I felt no shame. As I thought about it, he was well-known by the people and I decided to make a scene. So I started screaming.

"Let me go!" I screamed and wiggled in the sand.

The moment he heard the screams I felt nauseous and was dropped on the ground. However, we were not on the street, we were in front of his house.

"How the hell did you do that?" I asked, getting on my feet with a slight wobble.

"Why did you have to make a scene?" He asked, ignoring my question.

"I dislike being carried by sand." I said as if it was something completely normal and he sighed, turning around to unlock the door.

"Go get a shower." He said and I rolled my eyes.

"I am going to take a shower, but not because you told me." I retorted and he ignored me as I climbed up the stairs and took a shower. I decided to take my time, cleaning the dirt from my body and washing my clothes. I came to the conclusion that there was no such thing as shampoo, only soap. I decided to use it. I knew my hair was not going to enjoy the soap, but I had no other choice.

What I supposed was an hour later, I got downstairs wearing a towel around my body and could see Gaara sitting on a chair, drinking tea and reading something that looked like a document.

"Don't you do something else, different than work?" I asked and sat on the table across of him.

"I go on missions." He said and looked at me.

"Do you have any fun at all? Do something enjoyable?" I was simply astonished. "How old are you?"

"23." He said and I was getting kind of irritated by his short answers.

"You are one year older than me and all you do is work, go on missions and sleep!" I could not believe my ears.

"I don't sleep."

"What?" My eyes widened. This guy was impossible.

"I have insomnia."

"Why?" I was trying to make him say more than one word as an answer.

"Long story." Gaara took a sip from his tea.

"You have the time to tell me. You can work while you are actually at work." I said and got myself comfortable on the chair.

"You talk a lot." He commented and I broke a nerve.

"I will shut up after you tell me." I decided to make a deal and he silently stared at me.

After what felt like hours of staring at each other I was about to give up when he spoke. "When I was a child, a demon was sealed in me, due to which I could not sleep and soon I got used to the insomnia. Years passed as the demon was in me, talking to me, trying to make me do things and I could not let myself fall asleep. Now, that the demon is extracted, I am still new to sleeping and I don't feel the need to do it."

I could tell his story was over and I decided to play fair and not break my part of the deal.

"Thanks. I'm going to get ready and go to bed." I got up and smiled at him, heading towards my room, feeling the exhaustion taking over me. I decided to annoy him with more questions tomorrow.


End file.
